Dutch Kindelberger

James Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger (May 8, 1895 in Wheeling, West Virginia – July 27, 1962) was an American aviation pioneer. He led North American Aviation in 1934-1960. The International Aerospace Hall of Fame inducted Kindelberger in 1977.

An extroverted character, Kindelberger was famed for his emphasis on hard work, orderliness and punctuality.

His nickname referred to his descent from German (Deutsch) immigrants from Nothweiler, Pfalz.

During World War I, Kindelberger was a member of the US Army Air Service.

Kindelberger formed a life-long working association with J. L. "Lee" Atwood young engineers when they met at Douglas Aircraft Company in 1930, working on the DC-1 and DC-2 transports.

With Atwood he left Douglas in 1934, to become president and general manager of North American Aviation. Atwood became chief engineer. When the two arrived at North American, the company had orders for one passenger aircraft. Kindelberger managed to get a $1 million order for BT-9 military trainer.

Before the US officially entered World War II, the British Air Ministry asked North American to build Curtiss P-40 fighters for the RAF. Kindelberger told his UK contacts that North American could create a better design, and completed the prototype of the legendary P-51 Mustang in four months.

In all, 42,000 aircraft were built by the company by the end of the war.

After World War II Atwood expected there would be a need for improved rocket engines based on those developed by the Germans for the V-2. The two decided in 1946 to invest $1 million in a rocket engine test facility in Santa Susana, California, and a supersonic wind tunnel at Los Angeles International Airport. This paid off when North American landed the contract to develop the Navaho, a rocket-boosted intercontinental cruise missile.

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